Helicopter



Feb. 16 1926.

HELICOPTER' Filed march 28, 1923 2 sheets-Shut 1 Feb. 16 1926.

Filed March 28, 1923 v 1,573,563 E. Y. MOORE y v HELICOPTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. is, 1926.

UNirED- .STATES iinwaan Y. noone, or CLEVELAND, eine.' l

nELIoorm.

Application Afiled lai-c1128, 1923. Serial 110.628,20. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enwaim Y. Moon'i-i, a citizen of the United States, residingat Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in a Helicopter, of

- whichthe followin is a full, clear, and exact description, re erence being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in helicopters such as are shown in my application Serial No.l 623,3-15, filed March 7, 1923.

Briefly, the helicopter shown in my prior application embodies a plurality of helicopter propellcrs so mounted, tli'at the angle of the axis ofeach propeller shaft may be varied relatively to the frame, wherefore the forward motion of the ship may be obtained Y arrange mechanism or controlling the propellei's so as to obtain independent angular movement and thus to employ the propellers for Steering the ship, and for balancing and stabilizing it, as well as to provide an effective brake upon the forwardly movingship.'

Another object of the present invention is the arrangement of power mechanism under manual control for effecting the swinging of the propellers. Y l Y In accomplishing the above objects, I prefer to employ two pairs of propellers, all of which are arranged to be driven from the same source of power.l The rear propellers- 'are arranged to be swung in unison, while the 'front propellers may be swung independently of the rear Propellers and independently of each other. An advantage of `this arrangement is that the ship may be readily steered while inforward motion, may be .readily stabilized even in a high wind, and

may be balanced if unevenly loaded..

, A' simple embodiment of my invention' is shownsomewhat diagrammat-ically in `the' accompanying drawings to which the followin description relates.

n the drawings, Fig.'1` is a planviewshowing a plurahty of propellers carried by 'the frame and illustrating the driving .and

eontrollingJmeans;- Fig. 2 is a side elevation 'of the same showing the angle of the forward propellers shifted away from the vertical; Fig. 3 1s an illustrative'embodimentl of a ship consisting of fuselage gliding Ywings* and rudder whiclrmay be grouped about such helicopterframe; Fig. 4 is a plan'. view of a complete airship., i

In the drawings, I have shownY fourV propellers arranged in pairs and designated 10-10, 12-12 respectively, eaclrfof which may consist of two or more blades and may be designed for the particular weight and speed of the ship.

These propellers are Vshown as Vmounted uponl upwardly extending bracket arms 14 and 15 respectively, each of which may be rigid with a transversely extcndingtubular member through which the driving'1connection for the propeller may extend'. The hollow members adjacent the forwardpropellers are indicated at 16'and 17 asl being supported on bearings 18 'and-19, respectively, which may Acomprise part of theframe. The transverse hollow member adjacent the rear propellers, indicated at 20, is provided intermediately with a bridge member 21 as shown articularly in Fig. 1. The membe120 may suitable source of power as a motor 25,v which for convenience 1s illustrated as being snp- To drive the propellers, I have shown' aported lon longitudinal members 26 of thc frame. The Vconnection between the motor andthe propellers maybe any convenient arrangement, but -I have illustratedvthe motoras being disposed intermediate the 'forward'and rear propellers, and as. having drive shaft extensions 27 and 28 extending' forwardly and rearwardly thereof, to' drive the respective forward and rearward propellers. To transmit power bevel gear 30 which meshes with companion gears 31 and 32 on the transverse shafts 33 and 34 respectively. These shafts are supand 4() respectively. The mechanism a bevelgear 41 which drives companion gears 42 .and 43 on shafts 44 and 45 respecl from the shaft 27 to the forward propellers, I have illustrated a' for .they rea-r '-set of propellers is indicatedas comprising bevel gears 4 6 and 47 which mesh with companion gears on the rear propeller sha'lts 50. The arrangement of the mechanism shown may be materially altered to suit the design of any h cl-icoptcr, and is used to illustrate the frame and driving means for two or more propellers; it being understood that the driving means is arranged to permit the rocking of the propellers as described.

'lo accomplish the change in the angle of the rear propeller shafts, I provide-mechzv` nis-m for-shifting the rear propellers simultaneously, but independently of the front propellers and I provide mechanism for shifting cach front propeller independently of the other.

A simple means for shifting the rear propellers is indicated by a worm wheel rigid with the tubular member 20 and a cooperating worm 56 which may be carried by a shaft 57. Thel shaft may be controlled by selective gears 58 which are adapted to be controlled by a shift lever 59. The-driving gears 58.may be constantly rotated by a shaft 60 which in turn is shown as being rotated by the worm 'and Worm wheel con-- nection 61 from the drive shaft 27. VAn extension rod 62 may be connected to the shift lever -59 for enabling the gears to be controlled from the drivers seat. With this arrangement, the lever 59 may be shifted to bring either of the opposed gears 58 into engagementwith the companion gear on the shaft 57, wherefore the direction in which the shaft 57 is rotated may be controlled at will.

To obtain independent angular movement of the forward propeller shafts, I have illustrated a convenient mechanism as embodying selective gears 65 and 66 respectively which may be rotated by companion gears on the constantly rotating shaft 60. Suitable shift levers A67 and 68 may be operatively connected to extension rods 69 .and

70, respectively, for controlling the gears 65 and 66, and hence for controlling the direction of rotation of the shafts 71 and 72 respectively. These shafts may be directly connected to the tubular members 16 and 17 by worm and worin wheel connections 73 and 74 res ctively. With this arrangement the sha s 71--and 72 Vmay be ro-" tated independently of each other and also independently of the shaft 57,. wherefore the forward propellers -may be movedin unison with 'the' rear, pro 11ers or may be moved independently of t e rear propellers.

Similarly the front Propellers may be moved independently o each other and independently of the' rear propellers wlierefore the action of the propellers may serve as an effective brake upon a moving ship.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown the fuselage 80 as vcarrying suitable side wings 81,

a rudder 82 and tail wings 83 which may be employed for gliding or, if desired, for

additional maneuvering control.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a mechanism which enables sets of helicopter propellers to be positioned as a unit or independently without interfering With the rotation of the propellers; where-fore, I may obtain an arrangement which enables a ship to rise vertically, to effect hovering and obtain forward travel, and at the same time to be steered as desired. Moreover, this arrangement enables the ship to be easily controlled even in av high wind, to be brought into proper balance if the load therein is not uniformly distributed on all the propellers, and

.varying the axis of rotation of the other propellers, and three controls for said three mechanisms. y

2. In a helicopter, the combination of a frame, a motor mounted thereon, two pairs of propellers, driving mechanism between the motor and each propeller, mechanism for changing the angle of the axis of rotation ofboth propellers ofV one pair simultaneously, two mechanisms for 4changing the angle of the axis. of rotation of the other two propellers independently, and means for coupling each of the three mechanisms men-- tioned with the motor. 3. In a helicopter, the combination with a frame, of two pairs of propellers,; motor on theframe for driving the propellers, se-

lective` ower operated mechanism for enabling t e axes of rotation of all the propellers^to be simultaneously changed, said. vmechanism being also arranged to permit a change in the angle of the axis of rotation of two of the propellers independently of each other and of the other two.

` 4."In a. helicopter, the combination with a frame, of two pairsV of propellers carried thereby, a motor on the frame for driving the propellers, and selective mechanism operab e by themotor for enabling theangle of t 1e axis of rotation of all the propellers to be changed simultaneously, and for enabling the anglev of one propeller to be changed independently of the angle ofthe l other propeller in the same pair, independently of the others.

5. Tn a helicopter, the combination wit-h a' i rame, ot a motor, four propelleis adapted to be driven thereb mechanism for indem pen'dently varying the angles of the aices of rotation of two propellers with relation to the frame, with relation to the other propell-ers, and with relation to each other, and manually roperable means` -for connecting said n'ieehanism with said motor.

6. In a helicopter, the combination of a `frame, a motor mounted on the frame and having a t'orc and att shaft, two lateral` shafts bevel geared with said fore and aft4 shaft, two substantially 'upright shafts bevel geared with the lateral shafts, propellers on the upright shafts, whereby the motor may operate said propellers simultaneously, and mechanism for swinging each of 'said upright shaftsindependently of the other upright shaft, the last,y mentioned mechanism including rotatable sleeyes'around the lateral shafts carrying the upright shafts, mechanisms for turningsaid sleeves, and two independently controlled meehanisn'ls `for coupling the turning mechanisms with the motor.

In testimony wheievotfl hereunto alx my si gnature.v

Y. MOORE. 

